Aunt Kate's Restaurant

Today is Columbus Day and I happened to have the day off. My husband decided to take me fishing. We got on the water about 8:45 AM and headed out. We proceeded to firmly lodge ourselves directly into a mud bank (see exhibit A). As the tide continued to go out we realized we would be here for several hours (4.5 to be exact until the tide came back in enough for us to become un-stuck).
Actual Mud Trail (Exhibit A)

Since there was not much fishing to be done my husband asked me if I brought any reading material. I told him I had brought my South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook to look for fish recipes while we were out. He promptly asked "does it have pictures" and I assured him it did. (I'm sure I would ask the same if I had to make it through a golf book).  He spent the next several hours reading the recipes to me and deciding which sounded good. (Trust me, he was desperate, he had already tried to stick a foot into the mud outside the boat to see if he could walk over and fish, however, it resembled the surface of the moon if the moon were wet and six feet deep with swamp muck see below "Exhibit B").  I highly suggest this cookbook as it has both well balanced, low calorie recipe ideas and will work to entertain your husband if you are stranded on a deserted island.

Actual Mud (Exhibit B)

Thankfully, I had thrown a reduced fat string cheese in the cooler and 100 calorie pack of almonds.  With visions of being stranded in the salt marshes never to be seen again I stingily rationed out two nuts every half hour and ate the string cheese, with the theme of Gilligan's Island going through my head, thinking I would regret is later if I ran out and had to eat hermit crabs for dinner.  After the tide finally began to come back in and we were able to dislodge ourselves (with much celebration) we were able to find a great new restaurant called Aunt Kate's on the Intercostal in St. Augustine. 

AUNT KATE'S on the water

We were seated immediately and the staff was very friendly. We decided to sit outside on the patio and it was a gorgeous view. The facility and bathrooms were clean.  The waitress promptly came up and took our drink order while we scanned the menus. We both decided on the fish tacos and wanted them blackened rather than fried. It came with two sides for $12.00. I ordered the sweet potato fries and a salad with both the Balsamic reduction and Satsuma Vinaigrette on the side as I wanted to try both and Chris got the wedge fries and greens. While we were waiting they brought out fresh corn bread which was moist and had a grainy corn texture. The salad came out first and both dressings were perfection. The Satsuma vinaigrette was a great balance of acidity, sweet and savory. The balsamic was thick and tangy. The fish tacos came out with THREE soft tacos with blackened swordfish on flour tortillas with cheese, a small amount of chopped cabbage and fresh tomato salsa. They were excellent! Great balance of spice, good portion and the fish was moist and firm. Chris's wedge fries came out seasoned with a crisp outside and fluffy warm centers and he said the greens were good. The only suggestion I have for them is to also make their own sweet potato fries. They were a bit limp and were the crinkly kind that comes out of a frozen bag. From the daughter of parents who judge a restaurant on the quality of their sweet potato fries alone I was a bit disappointed there, however, I would definitely go back and try their pulled pork sandwich, Southwest Ahi tuna salad with pineapple black bean salsa or the low country boil. Overall it was a great ending to a, shall we say, challenging day.  

On a scale of 1 to 10 in comparison with other local water front dining:

Atmosphere: 9
Food: 8.5
Portion Size: 9
Waitstaff: 9
Prices: 9